Category Archives: Schlichtung

The initial euphoria of coal industry dominated Coal Commission to address the issue of German Coal Exit has been replaced by German Federal Republic forming a mirror image of Trumps administration with its Climate Denying stepping out of international climate agreements and obligations and instead attempting to put in place massive subsidies that will keep toxic and destructive lignite industry going even further despite it not even being able to compete on its own with falling prices of renewables.

As the Commission convened the German Environmental minister Svenja Schulze announced that the agreed to 2020 reductions of CO2 will not be met. Shielding Coal and fossil fuel industry and the Coal Comission from pressure and responsibility for effects of Climate Change with Global South disproportionately suffering the consequences. Further subsidizing this failing industry and allowing it to continue its destruction of habitats, communities and climate by calling for massive “restructuring” assistance. Trump’s, recently blocked, subsidies to closing, failing and unprofitable coal and nuclear power plants attempted to do the same by framing the discussion in terms of energy security with the false narrative of renewable as being unreliable source of energy. The German state support and financial assistance to industries that the same government agreed to scale back and transition from acknowledging the global scope of Climate Change emergency is significant in how the Neo-Liberal profit based regimes are transitioning to even higher levels of corruption and lack of transparency in which even the capitalist profit based principles can not continue to function on their own without a mass appropriation of public resources for profit of the very few on the corporate and governmental top at the cost of sacrificing stability of the planet’s climate and its future as a whole. Late Ultra-Liberal Disaster Corporate-Welfare Capitalism is here: RWE for example has last year only made “profit” for the first time in last 3 years due to 4.5 billion tax refund(in effect a hidden subsidy) for their nuclear power plants whose upkeep is already being subsidized.

The make up and structure of the Coal Commission continues to deny and distance decision-making process from the effect of climate change by being presided over by 3 former pro-coal presidents of coal mining regions, and by one former industry energy “transition” think tank executive with one participant of heavily vested in fossil industry Deutsche Bahn, German Railways,setting up an agenda of calling for “financial cushioning” of shutting down of coal industry that the commission is attempting to delay to 2030-2050 and then only with those massive payouts involved. Not just the german public, which is in favor of coal exit, but the whole global population affected by RWE’s and Vatenfall’s massive coal usage and co2 emissions is being held hostage by Coal and its affiliated politicians. As high temperatures and droughts rage with coal, oil and gas industries flexing their muscle of influence and disinformation to demand more resources for more extraction of combustibles so they can continue to feed the blaze of run away climate change. Smoke Screen of “The jobs” narrative is repeatedly used instead, using the 30 thousand jobs in coal mining as a bargaining chip, without mention or inclusion of representatives of over 120 thousands involved in renewable industry in the working of the commission. Not included also are members of any other German opposition parties present in German politics within the commission which is solely dominated by CDU/CSU, SPD insiders whose strategy of competing for votes with far right nationalist AFD parties is to embrace some of their issues and appeal by becoming more right wing and conservative, this is the case not just with immigration but also especially with embracing Coal as a traditional German industry. This informal alliance extends also to repression of Hambacher Forest activists, calling for climate justice and immediate coal exit, as terrorists. AFD has made protecting German Coal and “jobs” one of their key issues another one is elimination of left and radical autonomous centers, projects and struggles. This narrative is also embraced by coal industry and Herber Reul, interior/police chief of North Rhine Westphalia a Rhine Rnergie advisor and Armin Laschet NRW president and also coal industry insider and supporter. Calling for and organizing massive police actions against Hambacher Forest activists fear mongering regularly not about the effects of climate change but about left wing extremism while even the official estimates place the number of right extremists at 3 times the number of those on the left. Another parallel of the Trump regime violently repressing opposition to pipeline and fossil fuel extraction projects with disproportionate police forces and sentences classifying those protecting communities, ecosystems and climate from violent destruction as a threat to public(read: profit) safety.

The 2 degree climate warming danger area entered now do to “business as ussuall” mentality of full co-option of the political structures by fossil industry signifies entering a run away climate change territory: Run away climate change that will not just be irreversible but is the begging of an upward exponential spiral of temperature increases of 10-15 degree climate warming that will result in massive water level rise, loss of arctic and antarctic ice cover and cause extinction of most life as we know it. Issues not present in Commission outward statement with only one climate expert among 26 industry affiliated representatives.

“No Jobs on the Dead Planet” and “System Change not Climate Change” is now gaining not just deeper than ever significance but becoming a daily reality, reality that not only goes on unopposed by is enforcde by the political structures and governments.

Hambi Bleibt! Hambi Stays! Stays as a global and historical testimony that when the planet is pushed off the edge not just by opportunistic political constructs but also by their tanks and helicopters and their prisons there were and continue to be people that said “No More”: “Basta!” And who continue to resist the Disaster Capitalism narrative. How long and how much pressure the resistance continue to exert depends on all reading this and becoming active and supporting the Hambach Forest occupation and other indigenous and anti-extractionist climate Justice struggles world wide.